Fred Thompson on South Carolina: “This is my firewall”
Fred Thompson was just on Fox News. He’s in South Carolina while all eyes are on New Hampshire. The campaign’s launching an 11-city bus tour. “This is my firewall,” he stated bluntly.
Here’s what he told the AP:
With his Republican rivals jockeying for victory in New Hampshire, presidential hopeful Fred Thompson sought Tuesday to boost his support in this early voting state considered critical to his campaign.
“I don’t know of any better place to stand my ground and test my case than in South Carolina,” Thompson told a couple of hundred people at a pancake house in the northern part of the state as he began an 11-day bus tour.
Several hours later, he said primary results in New Hampshire and in Michigan on Jan. 15 will factor into whether he stays in the race — but that South Carolina will be key.
“This is where we make our stand — this is where I have chosen to make my stand,” Thompson told a crowd at a barbecue restaurant. He later told reporters he needs to do well in South Carolina, which votes Jan. 19.
“There’s no question about it. It could prove at the end of the day that South Carolina is determinative as far as I’m concerned, but we’re not there yet,” he said.
Indeed, it’s do or die time.
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I’ll be there to cast my vote for him. I’ll have to remind myself to keep breathing in the meantime.
Hang in there, Fred!
Do or maybe VP??? As long as he is in the administration (with Romney, I hope) there is a chance we will not have an amnesty for 4 years.
A credible finish in SC would give him appeal for inclusion in a balanced ticket.
At first I thought the headline read, “This is my farewell.”
Don’t forget NV precinct caucuses are also on Jan. 19, same day as SC.
Romney-Thompson 2008!!! Count me in!
Sound plan-Fred & Rudy both chose to save their resources till it matters…
plus they will also have the advantage of knowing whom the likely Dem. opponent will be by the time we get to SC.
Fred:
I consider you to be THE most conservative candidate running today. The other candidates are only partially conservative and, at this point, won’t get my vote.
You WILL get my vote if I see some changes in your campaign.
First, with me, you’re conservative message is “Preaching to the Choir”. You’ve sold me. You NEED TO SELL your message to the independants – Frankly, you haven’t done a good job of this. You need to.
Secondly, the “Choir” (me) likes the fact that you don’t say all that much in the debates, but, what you do say has substance. Unfortunately, the undecideds don’t get excited, like I do, about this. THEY WANT TO SEE ACTION AND PASSION for your message to America.
Lastly, and IMO, you have run a “Gentlemanly” race. I respect you for your courage in doing so! You DON’T practice the politics of personal destruction and you are to be COMMENDED for doing so. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make the news (they believe “If it bleeds it leads”). You need to think about this too.
Right now, Sir. I like you; would have no problem voting for you; and may, in the future, give you money. I cannot do so now, because of the above.
I wish you every success!
Good move Fred…now go knock the cr*p out of em. Thompson/Romney in either order would be great…don’t see either one accepting the VP tho.
I’m a Fredhead. I just hope he is still around in March when we get to vote.
I’ve supported Fred, and maybe things will turn around, but the failure to have an organization that seems coherent in 50 states is troubling.
If you’re running for Chief Executive, that means having an effective administration. Bringing effective people into your campaign to help you run it is a good start.
@FloridaBill
Good points you made. And if someone on Fred’s staff is reading Michelle which they had better be, I’d like to add my two cents. Smile more. Tell some jokes. Not let up, lighten up. That post Iowa rally clip was the kind of upbeat enthusiastic Fred we need to see more of.
DaMav:
Thank you for your agreement. I agree with you also.
It’s too bad there is a writers strike, maybe some of his old “Law and Order” writers could give him his script/talking points and put him back on track. There must be some who are conservative…
Smile more; joke; lighten up. No question he needs to do that. We all know he can do that but he isn’t (could this be stage fright)???
I just don’t understand what’s holding him back…
Fred, we’re pullin for ya. But you gotta make the break and stop draftin the leader!
Opps:
Meant to add “You gotta PASS the SOB”!
Put the pedal to the metal man!
If Fred’s team is in fact out there reading Michelle’s post, they would be very wise to contact her for that Hot Air Vent interview. If support is what he’s after, he had better move fast.
Me, I’m still in shock reading about the Delaware debacle.
Sounds the same as firewall in SC.
From here in S.C.
I wish him luck, I can’t stand seeing Ex-Gov. Beasley standing next to Huck and Chuck in Iowa and else where. I just sent some more gas money for Fred’s bus.
Crossing my fingers, but not getting my hopes up.
With what the MSM has done to ignore any of the real conservative candidates trying to sell us the gang of four RINOs, no wonder Hunter and Thompson appear doomed. I hope Fred pulls it off in South Carolina. It is time for him and his team to “cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”
I agree with the majority of the comments above.
As a Nebraskan, there are plenty of conservatives rooting for Fred.
Please, step it up.
Fred’s got enough “Gas”.
The question is, is it volitle enough, to attract attention.
Make something explode Fred. Get the cameras turned in your direction. He11, create a slow car chase (ala OJ Simpson) all the way to SC. Do SOMETHING!
I like what you believe, but I’m the “Choir”. You don’t need to SELL me. You do NEED to sell others!!!
Shake a few hands; smile; and DO SOMETHING to draw attention…
He11, Fred:
Kiss Obama and tell him he owes you one back…
Right on the keister!
The Michael Moore video was GREAT. You NEED more of them!!!
Relax,you guys….I instant message with a member of Fred’s traveling staff every day…and I always pass along the good ideas and observations posted on here….they go through Jeri and she knows how to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Well they Dam sure DON’T SEEM TO BE TAKING OUR SUGGESTIONS!!!
“Dam” being meant as blockage of water, of course, and not the other word, that sounds the same, which could get me banned from here…
Humble apologies if offense was taken…
They call Fred lazy.
Do you know who else they called lazy?
Ronald Reagan
Now, I’m not making a case for comparing Fred with Reagan, but it just shows how wrong the conventional wisdom can be.
I’m a loyal Fred supporter and I think he’s going to be kickin butt and takin names in SC!
Huck was up and now he’s 3rd in NH. His bubble WILL burst. Mit has been won 1 and second twice. I can’t see him doing much better than that in the South. Fred got 3rd in IA, and was 2nd in WY. He wrote off NH. If he would have campaigned there morning, noon, and night, he would have still placed last in NH. They’re just too liberal up there. But Fred has been consistent thus far and will trend upward as he heads into the south!
Go Fred GO!!!
Don’t get me wrong, I like Fred. But when a loony like Paul gets 7 times as many votes, and a nut like Kusinch(-5 sp) out draws him, how much effort is he putting into this? Coming in dead last isn’t much of a way to win.
C,mon people of South Carolina (or should I say “folks”) YOU CAN DO IT!!!
I support Fred al the way!!
Go FRED!!!
I can’t understand why any serious Republican contender would consider pulling out early. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see convention time come without a clear choice.
If Fred doesn’t win in South Carolina, then I will have to conclude that the Republican Party is no longer a conservative party. If you compare Thompson to the rest of the Republican candidates, he is by far the most conservative. I don’t like where the party is headed.
I must echo this as well. But I would have said “Y’ALL CAN DO IT!!!”
I just sent this thread to Fred’s campaign through their site – I just wish they would kick it into gear! At this point, I’m wondering if he needs to shake up the campaign staff – I don’t know enough about them – but so far they haven’t done him justice. Come on Fred (channeling Princess Leia) – This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi(Fred); you’re my only hope.
Not caring about Rudy, but this makes sense to me in regards to Fred; why would we give a crap how he’s received in new hampshire, a state so inundated with hippie filth and elitest prigs, you’re not going to get an unslanted outcome. The fact that Hillary and McCain came out on top is even more telling about the views of the ‘tards in that state.
As far as him changing his routine, I can’t agree, because he has been so stoic most of this trip, any change might be construed as a falsehood, though his non-coverage by the media might still allow him to come in under the radar. I certainly hope that is the case.
Fred is The Man. He is the most conservative, the most adult, the most measured and the most thoughtful. He is the least game-playing, the least sound-bite oriented, the least pandering of them all. My next choice would be Romney.
As another poster noted, if Fred doesn’t win in South Carolina, the Republican party is no longer stands for conservatism, it is just a pale shadow imitation of the DemocRAT party, a weak “me too” party of big government that is just not quite as quick to pander and promise more goodies from Uncle Sam to everyone.
So if neither Fred nor Mitt wins in South Carolina, I’ll just have to hold my nose and vote against, rather than enthusiastically vote for, a candidate. May God help our country.
Was Fred even on the ballot last night in NH? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
SC guy here. I’m pulling for Fred.
Tired of Lindsey Graham being an appendage of McCain. Yes yes yes, McCain was a Vietnam vet and a POW. I get it. That’s not relevant when we’re talking about the domestic issues, in particular the securing of our borders.
McCain & Lindsey want to keep the borders wide open, and have been way too buddy-buddy with Hildebeast in regards to the subject. They all three want votes, and they don’t care if the ballot is printed in English or Spanish.
McCain was exposed as a heartless calculating politician in his 2000 campaign here. I heard about how he treated his first wife (the one who waited back home for him while he was a POW) and vowed never to vote for the man.
Never heard about the stupid push poll “illegitimate black child” thing until long after Bush was elected; not that it would have mattered because we still kept electing Strom even though we knew his DNA was scattered all over the state in a rainbow of colors. So the bigots who want to blame McCain’s 2000 primary defeat in SC on racism can bite me.
I thank tmitsss for letting me know who Beasley endorsed. Ex-governors Beasley and Hodges are like reverse barometers – do the opposite of what they do and you’ll be fine.
Sandford’s endorsed Romney. That’s all well and good, but Romney is too plastic and mannequin-like for me. Besides, his track record in Massachusetts (particularly on redefining marriage) is mediocre at best.
So Fred’s the only mainstream candidate that this hayseed hick here can vote for.
I could vote for Ron Paul, but I can’t do it while simultaneously being sober enough to mark the ballot.
FloridaBill, I will also vote for Fred. The media, and unfortunately Fox, has ignored Fred’s message. Ironically, Fred is the only candidate with policy positions and a clear message. The others just spew rhetoric. Hillary and Obama get regular daily free campaign coverage, but you’ll never see Fred on a newscast unless it’s something negative. He can’t get the cameras on himself. Also unfortunate is that most Republicans tune into the MSM to find their candidate who’s visually appealing. Real conservatives are the only ones who know what Fred is about. There just aren’t enough of us.
I’d love to be able to vote for Fred next week when I vote by mail. But if he doesn’t at least place in the top 3 in SC (Mitt is consistently silver, and the single-issue-Fundies may come out in droves to buy their way into Heaven with a vote for the Huckster), Fred’s candidacy is as good as dead. The Delaware debacle has sapped my hope for a Fred revival.
Folks, look at the delegate counts:
Romney- 24
Huckabee- 18
McCain- 10
Thompson- 6
Paul- 2
Duncan- 1
Giuliani- 0
Winner needs 1191
To paraphrase the ‘Fred-is-dead’ crowd, why is Giuliani still in it?
Only hype and perception puts anybody in or out at this point.
Fred can even still be in it if he finishes even a strong second in South Carolina and pulls a healthly percentage of delegates. The spread and the possibility of a brokered convention makes it all possible (not necessarily probable). ENdurance may be the key; money sure hasn’t been, up to now.